2020 was a busy year for organisations with many changes to the employer/employee relationship, particularly in regard to remote working, but what are the key employment law developments for 2021. 1. New immigration law From 1 January, free movement of people is to end, and with it comes a whole new set of immigration laws.…
Since the onset of Covid-19 last year, many employers have been under pressure financially and a high number of business leaders have contemplated what can be done to reduce business costs, with redundancies being high on the list. It’s true to say that people are often a business’ biggest cost and in addition, the fact…
Lay-off and Short-time working, (or ‘LOST’) can be used as an alternative to compulsory redundancies. A LOST situation can arise when there is a downturn in work, or in the funds necessary to allow for full-time employment. LOST situations have arisen in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.How is Redundancy different to LOST…
Yes, although employers can only deduct the holiday pay overpaid from a final wage payment if there is a written agreement within the employment contract for the deduction of wages.Should such an agreement not be in place, it may prove difficult to get back the funds, unless the business is willing to take legal action…
Employers owe a duty of care to their team no matter where they are working and properly carrying out a risk assessment will help employers to fulfil their legal duties in this respect. A Risk Assessment should cover the hazards that are likely to be found in a normal home where home working is not…
The three categories of employment status are employee, worker and self-employed. When considering the status of ‘casual workers’, the key question is commonly whether they are employees or workers.Employers often use the term ‘casual’ interchangeably with ’employee’ and ‘worker’. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, ’employee’ and ‘worker’ are two different categories of status, with…
Rishi Sunak announced on 12th May 2020 that the Coronavirus Scheme will be extended until the end of October 2020. Until the end of July there are no changes, however, from August to October 2020, the scheme will continue on the basis that furloughed employees can be brought back part-time. If you need further information…
It is first worth clarifying that a job is made redundant, rather than an employee.If a number of people do that job, then there is a requirement to select the employees to be dismissed due to redundancy from those people. However, if there is just one person doing the job, there is no valid selection…
Can I rotate employees on Furlough leave? Yes. Employees can be put on furlough more than once so employers can, for example, place employee A on furlough, while Employee B continues to work. Then employee B can be put on furlough while employee A comes back to work. Employee A can then be furloughed again……
Changes to contracts of employmentFrom 6 April 2020, written statements of employment particulars must: Be issued to all workers – currently, only employees are entitled to written statements; Be issued on or before the first day of employment – currently, employers have two months from the start of employment to issue the statement; Be issued…